


Haunted

by nchi_wana



Category: Et Cetera (Manga)
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-23
Updated: 2012-08-23
Packaged: 2018-01-03 21:04:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1073033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nchi_wana/pseuds/nchi_wana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fino, Alternate, and Yaghi encounter a woman on their way home whose identity surprises them. What's more, she reveals to them some shocking information concerning their most-hated enemy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Haunted

**Author's Note:**

> This short story takes place after _The Zodiac Vendetta_.

Fino and Alternate watched as another wave of sheep passed in front of them. Sitting on their horses in the middle of the road, they’d been waiting patiently for the flock to move, but the dark figure darting to and fro in the middle of the sea of white wasn’t making much progress.

“Yaghi, I don’t think it’s working,” Fino called as her brother ran by. “You’re just making it worse!”

“I can do it!” Yaghi replied. “I got this!” He made another pass and the herd bustled and swelled.

Alternate leaned over and whispered in Fino’s direction. “Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea.”

“ _Now_ you’re saying it?” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Alternate, my brother’s not a dog.”

Her friend shrugged and grinned. Really he found it hilarious to see Yaghi trying to shoo the sheep off the road. The boy had been eager to do it, and Alternate had suggested it because he _knew_ Yaghi would agree. Fino would be furious if she found out Alternate had thought to use her brother like a tool. He didn’t really mean to treat Yaghi in that way, but Yaghi was often so eager to please that Alternate couldn’t pass up the opportunities that often came with it.

The boy went by again in his futile attempt to scare off the sheep, but this unusual flock seemed to want to stay on the road.

“These creatures are witched,” Fino mumbled.

“Now, that’s no way to be a friend to animals,” Alternate said as he eyed her, but his voice held a hint of amusement. The Indian girl was a vegetarian and had a strong compassion for animals. She hadn’t wanted to just drive their horses through the flock and risk injuring a lamb. Alternate thought the animals should’ve been at least smart enough to move on their own.

“I say that because I’m _concerned_ ,” Fino replied sternly. “Where is the person who’s supposed to be watching these animals?”

Alternate shook his head. He was going to call Yaghi back so they could walk the horses through when he saw a dust cloud forming in the distance. The road they were traveling on stretched straight through the flat valley that was surrounded by dry mountains. As he squinted he could see something coming their way. It quickly became obvious that it was stagecoach.

He turned to Fino. “That stagecoach is coming pretty fast. We’d better get off the road.”

“What about the sheep?”

“They’ll get out of the way.” Or at least he hoped they would.

Fino called to Yaghi, and they all led their horses off the road. The stagecoach came closer, and still the sheep would not move. Just when everyone thought the coach would mow over the flock, the sheep suddenly parted like the Red Sea, and the coach sped through.

The cloud that trailed behind the stagecoach choked the friends, and they coughed and spat. When Alternate managed to open his eyes again, he saw that the coach had actually stopped. It had almost passed them, its backside about ten feet away. The side door swung open violently like it had been kicked opened. Much to everyone’s surprise, a woman stepped out.

She was clad in a black dress with a satiny sheen, probably not exactly appropriate for traveling, especially with all this dust. Its design and structure was simple yet beautiful, and in a landscape that was so brown and desolate, it was shocking to see such a spot of solid black.

The woman lifted her eyes to them. Her blond hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck with a black ribbon, and her face was stately with a square jaw and severe blue eyes. The light in her gaze was so intense it could’ve melted stone.

“You two there,” she said in a tone that demanded obeisance. “Are either of you from around here?”

The friends exchanged looks. “Not quite,” said Alternate. “We’re actually on our way home. Why, are you lost?”

The woman shook her head. “I’ve been this way more times than I can count.” Despite her austere appearance, her voice became genial.

“Then why stop?” Fino asked.

Alternate gave her a sidelong glance. She was always so blunt.

The stranger apparently didn’t appreciate Fino’s frankness, or maybe it was because she was an Indian. The woman glared at her. “I’m looking for someone.”

Fino looked around herself. “Way out here? You won’t reach the nearest town till nightfall.”

“He could be anywhere, and I heard he was in this area.”

“Who?”

Now the woman hesitated, and Alternate could see she was debating whether or not to tell them. She looked back at the stagecoach, probably considering getting back in and leaving, but she turned back to them. “He was an outlaw. Are there any famous outlaws in this area that you know of?”

“Not really,” said Alternate, finding it very strange that she wouldn’t speak this person’s name. “Things have settled down around here, I guess.”

His two friends both nodded in agreement.

The woman was crestfallen. She cast her eyes to the ground and shifted her gaze about, her thoughts roaming. “I thought they said he was around here?” she said, her voice barely audible.

Alternate prodded his horse forward to stand in front of her. He smiled warmly to reassure her. “Maybe if you told us his name, we’d be able to help you.”

The woman’s lips twisted as she contemplated the offer. “It’s not easy for me to say, since I don’t really wish to be associated with him, but I’ve been looking for him for several years now. I came out West searching for him.”

Alternate waited patiently, allowing her time to decide. Even though he couldn’t see Fino behind him, he knew she was getting impatient.

“His name is Blush,” the woman finally said.

The name acted as a bolt of lightning that struck the hearts of the friends. Alternate felt like he could fall off his horse. “B-Blush?”

The stranger nodded, and a spark of hope entered her expression. “You’ve heard of him?”

Alternate found himself tongue-tied, and when he looked back at Fino he found her equally stunned. He saw her hand come up, and he knew she wanted to put it over Yaghi’s mouth. The boy was sitting in front of her in the saddle.

What could he tell this woman? He and the others were on their way back from the northwestern territories after having pursued Blush into the mountains there. The mercenary had perished in a fall caused by Fino’s Leo bullet. They were the ones who killed the man!

When Alternate finally found his tongue, he said, “I-I’m not really sure I have heard of him.” He hated to lie to her, but he wasn’t certain what the stranger’s reaction would be should she find out. “Why are you looking for him?”

Again the woman paused in uncertainty. “Well… I’m his older sister.”

Alternate heard a slight muffle behind him and knew Fino had pressed her hand over Yaghi’s mouth. He felt like someone had slugged him in the stomach. He swallowed. “Is that so?”

The woman seemed pained. “You’re sure you haven’t heard of him?”

“Well, let me see….” Alternate took a second to figure out what to say. “Actually, I think I have. In fact, I thought I heard the name back where we just came from, in the northwest. Somewhere in the mountains, I think.”

Instead of relief, the woman stamped her foot in frustration. “We just came back that way ourselves!”

“Did you go all the way to the mountains in Washington Territory?”

“Not quite. Is that where he might be?”

“Possibly.”

At this point, Alternate could easily figure that Fino thought he was insane. He was almost telling the woman where she might find Blush’s grave.

Nodding to herself, the stranger gave them her thanks and turned to go back to the stagecoach. Before she could get back in, however, Fino called out to her.

“Wait!” she said quickly. “If he’s an outlaw, and you don’t want to be associated with him, why are you even searching for him in the first place?”

The woman had one foot on the step of the stagecoach when she stopped. Her blue eyes fixed on Fino’s, but they were sad. “He used to be a halfway decent fellow before he went off to seek his own fortune. We came from a poor family. He promised to return, but he didn’t. Then I heard some awful things about him, that he was killing people for money. I want him to stop this madness and return. I married into a wealthy family and want him to come back with me. He’d never have to work again for the rest of his life.” She suddenly quit speaking as if feeling she’d said too much, but then, “It was also something his brother asked me to do before he died.”

Alternate wasn’t sure what to make of this story. Fino had guided her horse to stand next to him, and he could tell she was trying with all her might to keep her face like stone, but it was twitching and threatening to crack. She was certainly more affected by the woman’s story than he was.

“That’s unfortunate,” Alternate said calmly.

“How did your brother die?” Fino asked.

Alternate regarded her with shock.

The stranger was apparently unafraid of her question, though she suddenly began to look very tired, like she had been traveling all those years without rest. “He died of his injuries after being attacked by an Indian. He lived in a place that was remote at the time. Many Indians still lived there, and they weren’t keen on white settlers taking up so much space.”

Alternate felt his mouth go dry, and he began to feel somewhat lightheaded. He dared not to look over at Fino, and he couldn’t even begin to imagine how she was feeling. His heart pounded against his ribs.

“He wanted to see his brother one last time,” the woman said sadly, her eyes going back to the ground. “Blush was devastated. They were twins and quite close.”

Alternate was so astounded by this statement that he jerked back and accidentally yanked on the reins of his horse. The animal almost reared, snorting and neighing in annoyance. Fino sat like a statue next to him. Her hand had fallen from Yaghi’s mouth, and the boy was silent.

The woman shook her head and smiled at her own foolishness for having shared this tale with them. “I’m sorry to take up so much of your time with this sob story. I have not spoken about it with anyone for a while. I’ve been traveling for so long that it’s difficult to find someone to talk to.”

Without saying farewell, she pulled herself up into the stagecoach and had the driver turn the vehicle around. Even as it passed the friends, the woman didn’t look out at them. The windows were closed tightly against the flying dust of the road.

The three companions watched the stagecoach disappear into the distance, and they stood for a time in the silent wilderness.

Fino’s voice nearly made Alternate jump. “Why did you tell her to go northwest? She’ll find out he’s dead!”

Alternate was still amazed at the encounter and had to pull himself away from his thoughts to answer. “I think she needs to,” he said. “Then she can stop looking.”

Fino closed her mouth at this, knowing he was right. “Do you really believe her story?”

“Why would she make it up?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t want to believe it?”

Again Fino was quiet, so Alternate turned his attention back to the road. By now the stagecoach was long gone, and the dust was almost completely settled. He also noticed that the sheep had disappeared. That was some phantom flock.

They left with very little conversation afterwards, and since it was getting late they chose to camp out for the night.

Selecting a little rocky nook near a low hill, the trio unloaded some of their belongings from the horses, and made a fire for their camp. It wasn’t until the stars were well out in the night sky that they were able to finally sit down around the fire and contemplate the earlier events. They’d already eaten a small meal, and Yaghi was just getting ready to bed down when Fino’s voice broke through the cold darkness.

“Alternate?” she said. They were both sitting on a small log they’d found. Alternate had his arm around her in the chill. “What do you think her story meant?”

He knew what she was talking about, but he decided to play ignorant. “What do you mean?”

“I mean how does her story fit in with what we knew about Blush?”

Alternate had been hoping she wouldn’t ask that. He’d been thinking hard about it all evening, and had arrived at a possible conclusion that he wasn’t sure he should share with her.

“Why would she tell us all that?” Fino continued as she stared at a burning log in the fire. “We were total strangers to her. _I_ would never tell anyone all that.”

Alternate shrugged. “Maybe she’s just a talker and will talk to anyone. I’ve known people like that.”

“Like Mingchao?”

Alternate gave her an awkward smile. “Maybe, but I think she’s a little smarter than that.” His answer would’ve been Yaghi.

A little time passed before Fino spoke again. “Blush gave up something important, but he wouldn’t tell us.”

Alternate really didn’t want to delve into the topic. Although he’d been startled by the woman’s story, he only felt a little pity for her. “Fino, going through all these what-ifs isn’t going to change anything. It’s not going to change the past, and it’s not going to help us move forward.”

Fino turned to him. “It might help _me_. Alternate, I used to hate white people because Blush killed my parents; all because of one man. Blush’s twin brother was killed by an Indian…“

Yaghi stirred in his blankets. “I don’t think I can stand the idea of having two Blushes in the world. One was bad enough!”

This seemed to lighten the mood somewhat, and the other two chuckled. A log popped in their fire and sent sparks toward the stars. Fino watched them as she thought about what to say next, but Alternate was busy watching _her_. At the moment he wasn’t particularly interested in talking more about their former nemesis. His eyes traced her profile to her lips.

“Maybe that’s why Blush hated Indians,” Fino finally said.

“You mean he wasn’t just a mindless racist?” her friend said with a sarcastic smile. “That’s a shocker. He actually had a reason for being such a jerk!”

Fino wet her lips. “Do you think…that what he gave up…?”

“Was his twin?”

She didn’t reply, and kept staring at the coals in the fire.

Alternate sighed, stretched his legs toward the fire, and leaned back on the log. “Fino, there’s no way we’ll ever know for sure, and maybe it’s best we don’t know. First we wanted to kill the man, and now we want to know all there is to know about him? It won’t do us any good.”

“But do you have a theory?”

Alternate had _really_ been hoping she wouldn’t ask him that. Tonight had been a great opportunity for him to get closer to her, but she had to keep perpetuating this subject. “Okay. My idea is that maybe—and that’s a big maybe—his twin was the cost for joining the Syndicate. What the Indian had to do with it, I don’t know. Maybe the Syndicate hired him to kill the twin.”

Fino’s eyebrows came down. “But then why didn’t Blush seek revenge when he found out it was the Syndicate’s doing, like the priest did? He apparently knew his twin had been the price.”

Alternate resisted the urge to shrug. He’d been shrugging all day to the point where he felt his whole life was just one big shrug. “I have not the slightest idea, Fino. Maybe he just accepted it because he _wanted_ to work with the Syndicate, or maybe he had nothing else to live for. Who knows? Maybe he decided to make the whole world his enemy because it had done nothing but hurt him.”

The both of them went suddenly mute. The way Alternate said the last words had had some ring of truth for the both of them, to differing degrees at least. They sat there sullenly on the log, and Yaghi said nothing in his blankets.

The fire was slowly dying, and Alternate was about to reach for more wood when Fino said, “Even though he’s dead, he still haunts us. I thought we could move on and forget about him.”

Alternate took a bundle of sticks and put them into the fire. He decided it would be the last bit for the night. “I feel a little weird for saying this, but… Maybe the only way he can stop haunting us is if we forgive him?”

“ _Forgive him_?” Fino said with vehemence. She glared at him incredulously. “How can you forgive someone like that? He almost destroyed our lives!”

Alternate’s jaw clenched at her outburst. He understood her sentiments, and knew she wasn’t yet ready to reach the point of forgiveness. Maybe she never would. Even he wasn’t sure he could, either.

“It’s just a guess, Fino. I mean, when I look at someone like Mingchao, I have to wonder why she has so much optimism and joy. It was her father who had caused so much suffering and death, even in our lives. How can she keep moving forward without it haunting her?”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Fino pointed out. “She could, but she never expresses it.”

“Have you ever seen Mingchao not express something that bothers her?”

“Not…really.”

“Exactly. Whatever the case may be, I would think she’s the type to forgive and forget. I mean, look at how she accepted me. I tried to kill her and run a passenger train off a cliff!”

Fino paused as she remembered. He could see that she was putting the pieces together. He continued. “Or how she accepted Baskerville after all he’d done, or even you. She forgives and isn’t haunted by the past.”

“So you’re saying I should just forgive Blush, and that’ll be the magic cure?”

“I’m only making a suggestion I thought might be helpful. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

By now things between them had gone cold. Fino had pulled away from him and there was an empty space on the log next to him. She hugged herself as she went deep into contemplation.

“Maybe someday,” she said, hushed. “But I’ll need years to think about it, for the pain to fade.”

“I don’t blame you,” Alternate replied. He refrained from putting his arm around her again. She tended to get prickly when they discussed any subject having to do with Blush. “I think for some it might be easier than for others, but right now let’s just keep moving forward as best we can. We have our whole lives ahead of us.”

Fino smiled back at him with relief, and then scooted closer to him so he could embrace her.

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